Burgey
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They'll both make 30, but Warner's will be ***eh to watch
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***Official*** Australia in South Africa
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Top_Cat
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Personally, I'm a bit surprised Watto's not been endorsed as the long-term 3. He clearly can't keep opening but lower than 4 seems a waste too. Depends on how much bowling he's likely to do, I guess.
Guessing but I get the feeling the selectors have been putting off making some hard decisions. I also don't reckon they thought Clarke would struggle so badly at 4, figuring it was a formality he'd establish himself there, Ponting would quietly retire and they'd give a long-term pick (Usman) a go there and he'd have time to establish himself. With Clarke struggling, they'd had to pick someone who could hit the ground running at 3.
Top_Cat
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Do we really?
Those are 'reasonable numbers for an opener, big tons are a rarity for those not named Sehwag/Hayden. And openers getting out frequently between 50-100 is nothing new either. The biggest problem for me has been how he's getting out. Recently he's been bashing a quick 30 and running out of steam, not-so-coincidentally after bowling 15+ overs. When you're tired, you're more likely to have a flash than just patiently wait out a good spell and unless I missed my guess, Watto's had quite a few of those since he started opening. Must have been out leaving the ball more than a few times too?
More concerned with overburdening him than anything else.
Those are 'reasonable numbers for an opener, big tons are a rarity for those not named Sehwag/Hayden. And openers getting out frequently between 50-100 is nothing new either. The biggest problem for me has been how he's getting out. Recently he's been bashing a quick 30 and running out of steam, not-so-coincidentally after bowling 15+ overs. When you're tired, you're more likely to have a flash than just patiently wait out a good spell and unless I missed my guess, Watto's had quite a few of those since he started opening. Must have been out leaving the ball more than a few times too?
More concerned with overburdening him than anything else.
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Burgey
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Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
Watson averages 46 as an opener.
robelinda
International Vice-Captain
You might like this one i did today, unearthed another MAILMAN knock.
Greg Mail 92 vs West Australia 2000/01 Nth Sydney - YouTube
benchmark00
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Prince EWS
Global Moderator
Pitched way outside leg.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
Watson's performances as an opener haven't been good enough.
benchmark00
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Yes they have, they haven't been amazing, but it's the middle order not capitalising on his platform that makes it seem like he isn't doing his job.
Ikki
Hall of Fame Member
An average of 46 is certainly good enough. He was averaging 50 just before the last series, even.
The suggestion that Watson hasn't performed well as an opener isn't based in reality IMO. Could be better elsewhere, but is more than fine as an opener.
Furball
Evil Scotsman
I wasn't talking about his average, I was talking about his performances. Retaining an average of 50 by getting starts and throwing them away to stupid shots when you've got a piss weak middle order isn't performing well.
I'm with GingerFurball on this one, Watson seems to be one of the few Australian batsman capable of surviving when it's moving around a bit, along with Katich and Hussey. His average would be higher was it not for the last of higher scores to boost it. Yes his inability to capitalise is a worry, but 46 as an opener certainly isn't the worst average by a long shot. Some of his shot selection suggest perhaps too much limited overs cricket maybe? Thoughts? He does play all 3 versions of the game and does so at a world class level, but maybe with the amount being played, it's inevitable that the mind can get confused with wanting to dominate.